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EXPLANATION ABOUT THE THREE CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN SENECA

Reed Assumption Church is sometimes mentioned as being in Reedtown, but it is really in the nearby country west of Reedtown, which is called the Reed area. There was a church, school, and cemetery that were called Reed Assumption until the parish was closed in 2005. The cemetery is still called Reed Assumption. The church building is still there, but not the school. No other buildings are left, except the church and maybe the rectory. The frame school was torn down in the 1960s (when a new school was built to serve the area and the parishes of St. Sebastian, Reed Assumption, and Marywood-St. Michaels. It was a public school system known as Seneca-Huron because St. Sebastian (Bismark) was in Huron County and Assumption (Reed) and St. Michael's (Franks) were in Seneca County. The public school system was formed earlier (late 1940s?) for financial reasons, but all the teachers were Catholic nuns and they had Mass and religion classes every day. The convent house was moved a mile or so away and is used as a private home. It is a few miles west of Reedtown. Reedtown is on a state highway and is a very small unincorporated village. The only remaining business is Reedtown Tavern and maybe a car/machine repair shop. However, quite a few homes are still there.

A couple miles away in the country is a place called Frank's Corner. This area is also known as Marywood. In the earliest times, it was called Thompson (Township). The church and the cemetery there were called St. Michael's. The cemetery is still known by that name, but when the Reed and Marywood parishes were closed, along with Bismark St. Sebastian, a few years ago, the three were consolidated into a new parish now known as St. Gaspar del Bufalo (yes, that is the way it is spelled). That parish uses the 1800's Gothic style church that was formerly St. Michael's. Quite a few homes are still located there.

These settlements and parishes are adjacent to each other and separated by only a few miles. Both parishes, as well as the adjacent St. Sebastian parish, to the east in Bismark, were very "tightknit" German settlements and remain such today, with many of the same family names since the mid 1800s.

1796–2004Ohio, Diocese of Toledo, Catholic Parish Records, 1796-2004 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection includes images of parish registers recording the events of baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage, and death in the Diocese of Toledo (Ohio), Roman Catholic Church. These records are accessed by browsing the images by county. In addition to traditional parish registers, this collection includes miscellaneous cemetery records, Books of the Elect, Professions of Faith, Sick Call registers, etc.

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“Marywood” – People often refer to a place called Marywood for a residence and/or marriages in Seneca County. There is no city called Marywood. In the “old times” when the local people spoke of Marywood, they were referring to the area around the three churches named Reed Assumption (which is in Reedtown); Saint Michael's (which has a Bellevue* address) and Saint Sebastian (which also has a Bellevue* address). Presently (2009), when people speak of Marywood, they generally are referring to Saint Michaels and/or a shrine called the Sorrowful Mother Shrine; you can learn more by going to the web at www.sorrowfulmothershrine.com.